Homemade Laundry Detergent

So tonight I finally took the time to make my own laundry soap.  I used this web site as my guide: 
http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2008/04/09/making-your-own-laundry-detergent-a-detailed-visual-guide/
I have read through this site before and had forgotten about it.  Jason and I did watch his tutorial on youtube about a year ago.  Here is the link to that:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gfEJHb5lfds
I like this guy cause he is from IA so he must know what he is doing!!! :)

I did not use Borax as I have heard that it is harsh on clothes and not ok to have around kids.  I used Oxiclean instead.  For the bar of soap, I used Dr Bronners castile soap.  You can find it here:
http://www.drbronner.com/DBMS/OBPE05/PeppermintOrganicBarSoap.htm  Dr Bronners is pretty cool.  Looks to be a good go to site for some good soap!

It was a very easy process to making this detergent.  The only thing that took a bit was shaving the soap but I cut the time by using my food processor.  I had the water heating up while I shaved the soap.  Once the water was boiling, I added the soap.  I didn't do it little at a time like the guy said and I had a few clumps.  I just took my wire wisk to it and it broke up the clumps fairly easy.  In no time at all, the soap was dissolved.

I added 3 gallons of water to my "Homer" bucket by filling it up in the bathtub as my kitchen faucet has terrible water pressure.

I added 1 cup of Washing soda to the bucket and then poured in the soap that I had just dissolved.  I stirred that up really good.  I didn't have any lumps to break up.  I think it's because I had hot water in the bucket to begin with.  After that I added 1/2 cup Oxiclean to the bucket and gave it a good stir.  I put the lid on and had my wonderful husband take it to the basement for me.  I can't wait to give it a good stir tomorrow night and start using it!

I don't know how much this cost me as I bought the washing soda about a year ago and the Oxiclean from Sams club.  The Dr Bronners soap does cost a bit but I am happy that I am using something that is good and green!  I am hoping to find it cheaper on line and buy a few at a time.

I did take pictures and wanted to share but my husband went out to run some errands before I had him download the pictures. I will have to add pictures later.

A year gone by

Almost a year ago, my twins came into this world. This year has gone by very fast. It has been a blur but there have been some great memories made, wonderful pictures taken and lots of laughter in the Starbuck household!

It has been so fun watching the boys grow and change each day. It's been fun watching Nate interact with the boys as they grow. These days when you see Nate crawling up and down the hallway, you can be sure to see Jonathan right behind Nate crawling and right behind Jonathan is Riley doing the army crawl!!! They do everything they can to keep up with big brother. Nate gets a kick out of his brothers doing the same thing he does. I think all 3 boys are going to be buds as the years go by.

This year has been special but it has been difficult too. It has taught me to be more organized, flexible and to just sit and not worry about the house. I have taken the time to just sit on the floor and play with the boys. I am a stronger person now because of the last year. Raising twins is very difficult. I remember once saying that I wanted both boys but not at the same time. Now, I wouldn't change it. I am glad I have both at the same time. They have given me lots of laughs and to be honest, tears too. I can't imagine going through the day and not loving on them in some way. I am sure some day, all 3 will tell me "Enough kisses!!"

I will leave you with a picture of each of my babies.